Martina Filjak is one of those few young artists who have successfully made it from child prodigy to mature musician. Her stage presence and personality regularly impress audiences and critics alike, whether she plays delicate baroque and classical pieces, or colossal works such as Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata or Bartok’s 2nd Piano Concerto.
Since her debut in her native Croatia, age 12, with the renowned Zagreb Soloists, she has developed an extensive repertoire. She performs regularly in the most prominent concert cycles at home - with the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and the Croatian Chamber Orchestra – and abroad. She is now established as one of the most prominent Croatian musicians of her generation.
Martina performed numerous solo recitals in Croatia and Europe (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Boesendorfer Saal, Paris Salle Cortot, Strasbourg Council of Europe, Moscow Gnessin Institute, Bruxelles Hôtel de Ville, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Ljubljana, Sofia), as well as in the USA (Los Angeles, New York Steinway Hall), Japan (Okinawa, Sapporo, Tokyo, Yokohama) and Australia.
She performed as a soloist with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra under Theodor Guschlbauer, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Streicherakademie Bozen, Torino Philharmonic, Morocco Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa.
In the season 2006/07 she toured Europe with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, performing concertos by Mozart, Rachmaninov, Grieg and Shostakovitch. She held recital performances in France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Japan. Her interpretation of Beethoven's Op.106 in Germany's Villa Musica earned her outstanding audience and critical acclaim.
Martina has won several renowned international piano competitions. She was twice awarded the title of “Most Successful Young Croatian Musician” after winning prizes from the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jeunesses Musicales Croatia. In 2008 she won the First Prize at the 54th Maria Canals competition in Barcelona, and a 5th prize in the Unisa Competition (Pretoria). 2007 saw her win the 1st Prize in the Viotti Competition, four prizes in the Ragusa Ibla International Contest in Sicily and three prizes in the Grieg Competition in Oslo. She was also the first Croat to reach the final of the prestigious Busoni International Piano Competition, where she won the 5th prize. Among other awards she won a Bösendorfer Award (Vienna), a Kawai Award received during the festival YAMPF (USA), a special prize in the Okiden Piano Competition (Japan), a first prize from Johannes Brahms Competition (Austria), first prizes from piano competitions Bellini and Masin (Italy), International Keyboard (New York) and special award in the Animato Competition 2005 (Paris).
Martina was born in Zagreb in a family of pianists. She completed her musical education at the Zagreb Music Academy and the Vienna Conservatoire. In 2001, her studies took her to the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and Germany (Karlsruhe). Since 2004 she has been studying at the Hochschule, Hannover with professors Kaemmerling and Mi Kyung Kim, where she is sponsored by the Clara Haskil scholarship of the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, and the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung. She maintains regular contact with renowned artists Cyprien Katsaris, Oleg Maisenberg, Jean Bernard Pommier and Gyorgy Sandor. She is coached in London by Stephen Kovacevich.
Her forthcoming engagements in 2008 include tours to the United-States (where she will be heard in a number of well-known venues, including the Carnegie Hall), and with the Torino Philharmonic and the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. Other future engagements include a concert with the Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya (season 2009/10), and piano recitals at the Real Academia de España in Rome (2009), at the Temporada de Musica de Cambra at Santa Cristina d’Aro (2009) and at the Museu Nacional de Art de Catalunya (2008/09).